There was no answer from the doorbell, so Marius opened his 'cousin's' door and called out. "Julia?"
The house seemed strangely quiet. He walked to the kitchen. The kids must be at their grandparents' house.
"In a minute, Pete!" He heard her call out.
Marius was just a little irritated. If this was about him drinking all her whiskey at the farmhouse again...he had his own shit to deal with! Then again, she could be in deep waters, a half a million in bills hidden in the vegetable drawer and in desperate need of some laundering. With Julia he could never be sure.
"Julia, you called me over," Pete started to complain, but then swiftly swiveled away. "What the hell!" Not quick enough. Marius trained extensively to make sure he could take in everything in an instant. This time had been no exception. He struggled to control his expression as the image of naked Julia ran through his thoughts, from her pink toenail polish to the expression on her face. And everything in between.
"You've seen me naked before, Pete. We used to take baths all the time."
What the fuck is wrong with this family! "Yeah, well, I blocked out that traumatic time of my life."
"Right, because our childhood was probably way worse than prison."
"You'd be surprised. Got to catch up on a lot of reading. At least my little cousin wasn't pestering me at every opportunity. What was the emergency, Julia?" He continued to talk to his cousin by talking to her kitchen sink.
"Aw, there's the asshole Cousin Pete I remember," she said mockingly. "Help me?" She asked.
He risked turning around to find her back was to him and that she was wearing a short dress with a deep zip draped open dangerously low. He raised his hand and hesitated only a little. He zipped it up quickly and made sure not to touch any of his cousin's skin.
She turned around sharply and slapped him, hard, in the face. He held his cheek and his mouth opened in indignation. "What was that for?" He rubbed his jaw.
"Payback." She smirked.
"I slapped you to help you!"
"My genius cousin who got back all Dockery's money couldn't think of anything else to help me out of that mess?" She still looked way too pleased with herself.
"I could have been your pimp, but that would have involved more groping and I still would have slapped you."
Julia gave an open-mouthed laugh. "You would be so lucky."
Marius finally smiled, knowing her revenge was over and she wasn't actually mad. "Is that all? Not that I don't love playing lady's maid, I have my own business to attend to, freelance insurance work."
She rolled her eyes. "I was going to ask for help with a skip. No telling Audrey. Obviously. But if you're too busy..."
"Is that why you're dressed like a –" He let his eyes do the talking. A teeny tiny beige dress she was almost spilling out of. It looked more indecent than her full nudity had.
"He's a bit of a ladies' man." She didn't even have the decency to look uncomfortable.
Marius, on the other hand, was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. "Ah, he's been in trouble with the law for associating with prostitutes, I'm guessing?"
She gave him an ironic look. "Nothing so sophisticated. He has a reputation of pursuing a certain kind of woman."
"A certain kind indeed." Marius looked her over again and rubbed his hand over the light stubble on his cheek.
"Cut the commentary. I can't exactly carry handcuffs or a gun in this dress. Or chase after him in heels."
"Whoa, whoa – you do remember how much help I was on the last skip trip, right?"
"I do," she smiled softly. "But I think you've proven yourself more than capable since then. Besides, if all else fails you can just lie and come up with a long, complicated story until he's so bored he surrenders."
He pointed a finger at her. "Don't knock it til you've tried it."
"Will you help or not?" She asked impatiently.
"I don't know if we should be here, Julia." Marius sipped on the Old Fashioned he'd ordered. It was strange how in this family he was sometimes the only one acting as the voice of reason. If any of his past crews heard him now their jaws would drop.
It was a biker gang just outside of city limits. Julia shifted in her high heels and looked a little tired. "All I know is that he shouldn't be here. And it's my job to make sure bailing him out doesn't bite the family business in the ass. Relax, you don't have to do anything. Just make sure you're nearby when I'm ready for you."
"I can't believe I'm your glorified purse." Over his shoulder was a tan satchel bag. In it were Julia's bail bond identification, cuffs, stun gun, and one very real gun. It was Pete's job to make sure they were in her hands when she was ready for them. She'd completed her look with a high ponytail, dark red lips and enough dark eye makeup to make her hardly recognizable. Not that most people were staring at her face, anyway. They were only there 20 minutes and he already hated his evening.
"Oh, there he is." Julia hit his shoulder and peeked at him above Marius' head. Fucking heels. "I'm going in. I'll lure him to the bar. We don't want to risk approaching him together. You create a distraction and hand me the cuffs and the rest will be easy."
"Julia –" Marius wasn't sure what he was about to say – surely nothing so stupid as 'be careful' – but it didn't matter because she'd already slipped through the crowd. She was agile in those heels when she wanted to be.
Marius sipped on his drink and watched from the bar as a biker with a beard appraised his cousin in a sickening manner and then proceeded to run his hands all over her body. He found himself almost looking forward to bringing him back to justice. His eyes narrowed when the man's hand slipped under her short dress, which had already given the man more skin than he had a right to feel to begin with. Julia grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her body under the pretense of pulling him towards the bar. Marius downed his drink. Showtime.
The man had barely ordered them drinks before Marius turned and knocked them both out of the bigger man's hands. The liquid went flying. Some of it landed on the biker's leather vest, but most of it had splashed against Julia's face and chest. The dress went see-through.
The look on her face was almost worth the trip. "Hey!" The man grabbed him by his suit jacket and nearly picked him off the floor. Almost worth it. "I'm gonna make you eat those empty glasses, fucker."
Now that Marius had the attention of everyone within ear-and-eye-sight, he used his outside voice. "I saw what you did!" Marius looked around, hoping these people had a moral code. Even criminals usually did. "He put something in her drink!"
The eyes turned to the bigger man, assessing.
"I don't need to drug this slut. Look at her." Eyes turned to her and Julia looked torn between wanted to wipe her face and cover her chest.
"They why'd you tell me you prefer 'em unconscious earlier, hm?"
In that moment, Julia took the opportunity to waver on her feet and let her face take on a vacant, dizzy expression. "I don't feel so good all of a sudden."
The bigger man swung at him and Marius ducked fairly easily. The bartender took that moment to come around and shoved their target. "Get the hell out or I'm calling the cops." He looked like he wanted to fight for a moment, but he complied. The other bar patrons were still giving him suspicious looks.
Julia stuck her hand in her bag, still on Marius' shoulder, to pull out her handcuffs and follow him. She confronted him outside. It wasn't a perfect maneuver, but Pete could see the wisdom in waiting to pull the cuffs on them til they were no longer in a crowd who might be more willing to help a fellow biker than someone working to get him back to jail.
She held up her cuffs. "Remember me now? You're coming with us."
"You fucking whore! I'm not going anywhere." He stepped towards her menacingly.
Only to have his head go flying back when Marius' fist made contact. "Ow!" Marius cradled his arm gently. "Ow, ow, ow."
Julia looked down at the biker. "You knocked him out."
Marius' mouth was still open in pain as he gazed at his fingers, his knuckles, oh his wrist, his poor sweet wrist.
"You knocked him out!" She grinned at him.
Marius tried to smile, but the pain just twisted his face in a funny way.
"That almost makes up for the fact that I'm sopping wet and covered in eau de alcohol." Julia put the handcuffs on their target and together they half dragged, half carried the man into their backseat.
"I didn't do it on purpose," he moaned.
"Please." Julia dismissed his defense for the obvious lie it was.
She got into the driver's seat. Marius definitely didn't notice the way her wet dress rode even further up her thighs, he was too busy lamenting the fact he'd never write again, never forge a signature ever again. Julia noticed his introspection and shook her head. "We'll get you some ice, you big baby."
"Just take me back to the farm house." He let his head fall back against the seat.
"We have to get him to the station." She shook her head. "And I need a change of clothes, immediately."
"Change at the farm house." He suggested.
"And wake up Audrey when I'm wearing this?"
Marius groaned.
"It's fine, Pete. The kids are with their grandparents for the weekend and it's too late to do any more of your work tonight, anyway. Stay," she insisted. "We can get into some whisky. Unless you've somehow depleted the stash I keep at home, too." She sounded irritated with him even as she invited him to her house.
He didn't fight her on it. He felt tired suddenly. Sometimes that happened when you held up the charade for too long. It was all the more reason he should remove himself from the situation.
The ride didn't take long – Julia was a speeder. Must have something to do with her brother being a well-liked police officer. He followed her into the house and was about to make his excuses when he met with a sight that completed the mental picture that had been imprinted in his head earlier. Julia's naked ass looked tight and perfect as she stepped out of the tiny pile of dress at her feet. She hadn't bothered with undergarments.
Marius found it much harder to look away this time.
She turned a corner without looking back and yelled loud enough for him to hear. "I'm taking a quick shower! Whisky's in the cabinet under the TV!"
Well, he definitely needed a drink after that. He found the whisky easily and took a quick swig from the bottle before looking for a glass in the kitchen. He was only halfway through his drink when Julia came down the shower in a thin floral robe. The ends of her hair were wet and her makeup was gone, but it had obviously just been a quick shower to get the beer off her. She looked so much more like herself that he almost smiled.
He poured her a glass. "You did a good job today," he said to break the silence.
"Yeah," she gave him a sly look over her glass. "You too. Although I'm not too surprised. You always seem to land on your feet, Pete."
He shrugged modestly. "Not always. But I always try."
"Yeah, you do, don't you?" She moved nearer to him.
He didn't back away, although she was uncomfortably close. She smelled nice from the shower. "Julia? Are you okay? I know that guy got pretty nasty back there."
She laughed as she moved back and suddenly she seemed close to losing it. Her eyes were wet. "Why would you care?"
"Julia…" he took a step closer to her.
She weakly pushed him away and hid her face, but he didn't let her. He grabbed her shoulders and tried to see her face.
"I can't do this," she cried.
"Is it – is it Lance?"
"It's you." She met his eyes.
Hers were wet with confusion and pain. He didn't quite understand why, but he found himself lost in that expression. He wanted so badly to understand what was causing her pain, so he could fix whatever problem she had, just like he'd done before. The depth of the connection shocked him, he pulled her close to comfort her. "What did I do? What can I do?" He'd thought the only other person on this earth he cared about was his brother.
He'd never been the protector type. It was ironic he kept being thrust in this role. Or worse, he was being drawn to it, even embracing the responsibility. The thought made him grip her in his hug even tighter, although she'd already stopped crying.
"You don't get it, do you?" She asked as she pulled away just to look at him. She was caught in a sudden calm.
"I don't," he said simply. Families were confusing.
She didn't leave his arms. She leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips. Her face lingered in his for a fraction of a second before she tried to pull away.
Marius found he couldn't let go of her. He pulled her in again and swiftly forced her mouth to his. Her arms went around his neck and he felt a rare rush of pleasure. His eyes closed in the assault as her savored the taste and feel of her mouth moving against his, with his. He caught one of her lips in a nibble and it was better than a fantasy.
She liked that. She moaned and thrust herself against him when he did it again. Her hands started to untuck the edges of his dress shirt and he moved his hands to her waist, only to stop when a dull pain brought him back to reality. His hand.
He disentangled, which was harder than it looked. Her reaction was so fierce it excited him. "Julia, this is…seriously. I'm not – I don't think this is the right…" He found himself struggling to come up with a way of talking himself out of this, let alone talking her out of it.
Her eyebrows rose and in her face he could see no trace of uncertainty. "Because we're cousins?" She asked.
Marius raised a hand. "Yes, that. Exactly that. I – we've both had a lot to drink. That's all. And, cousins." He ran a nervous hand over his bottom lip.
"I haven't had that much to drink." She insisted. Her face looked pointedly downward. "And it doesn't look like what you've had has incapacitated you in any way." She smirked.
Marius gave a nervous laugh. This was not going how he thought it would. He had to take control of the scenario soon. "I- that's, I am not attracted to you. You're my younger cousin who I grew up with," he explained unconvincingly, "and this is just, my confused…you know I've been in prison a while." He waved a hand over his lower half. "That's all this is." He finished strong. Or so he thought.
Julia unbelted her robe and let it slide slowly off her smooth shoulders. "I can help you with that."
It should not surprise him that she seduced the way she did everything – straightforward, practical, stubborn – but it did. And he was so turned on that it was becoming harder to think.
He shook his head in disbelief and she grabbed him through his suit pants. He paused, trying desperately to reassess the situation. "That is unnecessary," was all he managed.
"C'mon, it's not like you'll be able to use that hand tonight anyway."
He stared at her. Understanding all too much and still not quite able to comprehend what was happening. He was always quick to think on his feet. To come up with improbable solutions and get himself out of any situation, but he was having trouble getting motivated to do anything other than grab her and take her on her kitchen floor. "Julia, we should both walk away." His voice was serious, and he wasn't talking as Pete when he said it, but how would she know that?
Something in her seemed to respond to the tone of his voice, but it didn't have the right effect. "I need this, Pete."
And that was all he really needed to hear.
They simultaneously moved back together and linked arms, lips, legs. He had her naked body against the kitchen sink and was grinding away. He wanted to touch her everywhere. His hands roamed with eagerness over her body as he did his best to do so. She held onto his back and urged him on as she sucked at his neck and earlobe and everything she could reach. "Bedroom," she panted.
He didn't exactly care where they were, but he wasn't in the mood to argue. If he did, she might see reason. If he did, he might see reason.
She led him to her room and pushed him on the bed. She crawled on top of him and Marius could have sighed with pleasure. Julia on top. If he were more religious, he would have thanked God for the position he now found himself in. He had found himself wanting her in every way, but there was something special about her being so overcome with desire and certainty that she needed to hold him down while she writhed in his lap.
He was half sitting as she helped him pull off his suit jacket and shirt. She pushed him down and ran her hands delicately over his chest. She looked so pleased, like it was something she'd wanted to do for a while.
He was lost in the expression on her face and the feeling of her body. So far gone that he didn't notice the handcuffs until he heard the click. He looked up to see his uninjured hand now secured to her bedpost. Marius looked at her in surprise and saw something new in her expression. It was hunger, so fierce it was almost malevolent. He wondered if part of this was some form of revenge for the tortures his younger self inflicted on her. He selfishly hoped it was not. He wanted it to be only him, only this 'Pete' she was attracted to.
He stopped kissing her, but gave no struggle. She looked down at him and he schooled his face into what he hoped was an expressive form of blankness. He knew he had no right to hope, but he still wanted…wanted it all. Julia's eyes widened as their gazes met. She leaned in slowly and kissed him deeply.
He responded in kind. This kind of kiss was even more intoxicating than the one before. There was no going back for either of them after this kiss. She undid his belt and scooted his pants down. He felt the sweet heavenly brush of her soft lips before she completely sank on his cock.
She gave such a small, helpless cry of pleasure that he wanted to kiss her again, hold her closer, but she began to ride him. She whispered and her voice came out in broken encouragements. He did his best to comply, faster, deeper, lifting his hips for her, but it was Julia who set their pace.
She knew just what she wanted and she pressed herself forward again and again over Marius. He called out her name. "Oh fuck," she gasped. Her thighs gripped him tight and she pressed him so deep into the mattress that he thought he could feel the springs in his back. She came and he caught the hint of a blissful smile on her face before a curtain of her hair hid it from view.
She began to move again, slowly at first as she rode out her own pleasure. "Are you close?" she whispered into his ear.
"God, yes. Yes, Julia!" He cried out. In response, she moved faster over him and used one hand to grip him by the hair on his head while she rode him. "Oh fuck," he responded.
She was controlling and perfect and so damn good. He couldn't hold back. Marius was coming hard when she said it. "I know you aren't Pete."
"Fuck," he groaned as he finished, thrusting up hard as his mind and his body reeled. Fuck, mind fuck, literal fuck. Fuck. He shuddered and took gasping breaths. He slid out of her as she raised her self to perch above him.
"I know the truth, Josipovic. You're screwed."
He wanted to reach up and cup her face, but remembered he was half shackled. He searched her face frantically. How could he have missed this? He was too close. He should have noticed it earlier, in her weird behavior. She had been playing him all night.
"Julia –" He was going to apologize, explain, beg for forgiveness, come up with another lie, something.
"Save it. I'm in control from now on. And if you want to continue to be a part of this family, you will do everything I say."
What? Of all the possible outcomes, it wasn't one he was expecting. "Continue?" he asked.
"If the others knew, Otto, Audrey, Taylor…their reactions would probably be pretty different. Whatever operation or alias you're running, I'll stay out of it. And you'll do anything I tell you to." She noticed his stunned expression, so she huffed in exasperation. He saw a little bit of the frustrated girl she'd probably once been. "I'm not stupid. I can use you." He'd saved her ass more times than her real family had. He was resourceful and cunning, and their family business could use a little of that.
"What, like be your sex slave?" Marius mouthed off. Some part of him wanted to smirk at the thought he might be so desirable, but a larger part of him was just irritated he was in this mess and that she'd gotten the upper hand so easily. He was frustrated that he couldn't have had one moment to enjoy this, just one fucking moment of bliss before he ruined everything. He was also deeply relieved she wasn't so far fucked up that she wanted to carry on an illicit affair with her cousin.
"No, like having my back with Audrey, with skip traces, laundering, with anything I fucking say." She was stone-faced and cold. And it almost hurt him to see that look on her face directed at him. "And yeah, if I want a quick fuck."
He knew she didn't mean it, but his stomach dropped with excitement, anyway. He knew he was in trouble. "Julia, you don't have to blackmail me or trick me into any of those things." Especially the last one.
She looked vulnerable for a second. "And why should I trust you?"
"I–" Marius found this hard, but it felt important to him. He'd already lied to her so much. He wanted her to trust him, now. Needed it. "I care about you. And this family." He ignored the pain and used his uncuffed hand to grasp her bicep and she didn't stop him. "And I never stopped wanting you, not since the second we met."
Julia looked like she was going to lean in and kiss him, but instead she uncuffed his restrained wrist. "You know the arrangement now. You can leave."
She was back in 'Cold Bitch' mode and Marius felt a stab of pain. Hurting her had never been an objective. She tossed his clothes at him and didn't bother to cover herself as she left him on the bed.
Marius dressed in disbelief. He'd never quite felt this way before. It was something like…shame. And relief that it didn't necessarily mean the end.